Review: NEWSIES 10TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION Brings Down The House at Feinstein's/54 Below

The Fansies were out in full force this week when Feinstein's/54 Below presented four performances of a 10th Anniversary reunion concert of NEWSIES cast members. Slickly and professionally produced by OG Broadway Newsie Aaron Albano and blissfully ubiquitous cabaret producer/filmmaker Shoshana Feinstein, the program (as witnessed by this writer at 7 pm on March 29th) was an excellent outing evocative of, both, what a reunion concert should present, and the importance of Newsies in the history of American Musical Theater. For some, it might be easy to consider Newsies a bit of fluff, a Disney musical, a play for kids - but it isn't, and that can be easy to forget at times. Seeing these castmates joined together for the nearly-ninety-minute concert, hearing the music performed live, observing the siblinghood shared between the (mostly) men and women of this shared experience was a genuinely uplifting exercise in the recognition of what this play has meant to the world.

Introduced by Mr. Albano himself, the concert took the standing room only audience through the score, employing the talents of cast members from Broadway, tours, and the filmed version of the stage play, allowing fans to see how their favorite Newsies have grown up, and to mix-and-match actors from varying stages of the Newsies history. With bits of trivia and storytelling, there were some behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and much joy and satisfaction came by way of filmed greetings from creatives unable to attend the performance. A cleverly edited bit of film documented the creation of the show with writers Alan Menken, Jack Feldman, and Harvey Fierstein sharing their individual journeys with Newsies (the three men are all charming but Menken topped out on humor when he compared the experience of going from Razzie to Tony with the same score), and videos of Corey Kott, Evan Kasprzak, and Kara Lindsay at home with their kids warmed hearts and inspired laughter (particularly when baby Lindsay commandeered Mama Kara's iPhone). Although not on camera with his daughter, Clara, Newsies original Jack Kelly, Jeremy Jordan, dropped in via video for a lovely greeting to all because it just isn't Newsies without him. With Musical Director Steven Malone leading a stellar band, the enormous cast filled the 54 Below stage with good will, great energy, and absolute joy - to see the pleasure that being together once more gave the actors was to see one of the great and greatly important aspects of being in show business: family. The camaraderie was palpable and beautiful, and only to be outdone by the impeccable musicality of the evening, an exciting experience, to say the least, as these Broadway actors rose their voices in thrilling harmony, touching humanity, and superbly executed skill.

Especially effective on the night was video footage of the big dance numbers from Newsies. While this writer usually discourages the usage of (a lot of) video footage in a live cabaret act, here, it was completely essential to present the footage because Christopher Gattelli's choreography was one of the characters in the play, and it is impossible to present an authentic representation of the musical without including that character. In a brilliant move, producers Albano and Feinstein had the dance-heavy group numbers edited together from performances on the Tony Awards broadcast, Good Morning America, Dancing with the Stars, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the NEWSIES film, and any other televised performances available, and the 54 Below audience cheered the film footage as though they were seeing the terpsichore live, in-person, in real-time. Actors on the stage watching with pride could be seen clinging to one another and, occasionally, wiping away a tear. Indeed, it was a tear-filled evening, as actors like Damon J. Gillespie and Andrew Keenan-Bolger (among others) were seen to be, visibly, moved by the moment - and, let's admit it, it is simply not possible to hear a group of passionate people sing "Seize The Day" or to watch one man (here Joey Barreiro) sing "Santa Fe" - both songs are so defiantly hopeful, so vulnerably wistful as to resonate with anyone hearing who has a heart.

Heart. That's what it was all about at the Newsies 10th Anniversary Celebration. That's what the show has represented, lo, these many years - to the casts, to the fans, to the generations of audience members who saw Newsies as young people and, hence, became theatergoers or actors. Indeed, as the evening ended and the audience gathered their belongings to leave, the young woman seated at this writer's table turned to me and confessed that "Newsies is why I became an actress."

That is what theater is all about - making a difference. And that's what Newsies did ten years ago, four days ago, and, somewhere, by way of streaming screening, it's what Newsies is doing right now.

The cast of Newsies 10th Anniversary Celebration included Aaron Albano, Adam Kaplan, Alex Wong, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Andrew Wilson, Becca Petersen, Ben Fankhauser, Beth Stafford Laird, Caitlyn Caughell, Damon J. Gillespie, Daniel Switzer, Ethan Steiner, Iain Young, Jack Sippel, James Judy, Jess LeProtto, Joey Barreiro, John Michael Pitera, Jordan Samuels, Joshua Burrage, Kaitlyn Frank, Kevin Carolan, Laurie Veldheer, Lavon Fisher Wilson, Liana Hunt, Stuart Zagnit, Tommy Bracco and Tommy Martinez.

The Newsies band was Steven Malone on piano, Paul Davis on drums, and Ray Kilday on bass.

The Newsies producers were Aaron Albano and Shoshana Feinstein, with Mr. Albano acting as director.

The personnel list above was provided by Feinstein's/54 Below.

The Newsies 10th Anniversary Celebration was a benefit for COVENANT HOUSE. Learn more about Covenant House HERE.

Find great shows to see at 54 Below on their website HERE.

The Cast of Newsies 10th Anniversary Celebration gets a five out of five microphones rating for performing their entire show without the use of a lyric sheet, tablet, or music stand.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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